1-21-13 looking at it right now 11am est, some clouds in the area an venus a pinpoint of light in finder.still receding from earth an tiny ball all lit about this size in a 32 mm wf eyepiece.seeing is steady even with wispy clouds in area. ra 19.54 dec 22.45 16.3 deg west of sun.will follow it as long as i can into superior conj.(going behind sun). gonna use 200x (10mm in c-8) about the max . this is a very poor apparition of venus ,in a few months it will be much better.

1-23-13 crisp an clear blue skies here in sarasota west coast of florida an 57 deg. at 10.30 am est.just a gorgeous day to see venus in a 17mm an 10mm eyepiece.thats about 120x an 200x in c-8 main scope.easily seen in any finder in clear blue skies.a little windy though but still excellent an its about 15.8 deg west of the sun, which has 1 nice sunspot at north west quadrant (south is up). venus is at 19hrs 15 mins an declination 22.30. the suns dec is 19.57 an about 1 hour away(15 degrees) cannot see anything on venus as its far from the earth at this time,but in by march it will be much better.of course ill pick it up much earlier as it emerges from behind sun an heads closer to us an much larger an then we will see some nice phase changes an hopefully some breaks in its cloud cover but thats rare. some real brite spots have been seen an recorded by amatuers an i have seen a few myself.clear skies

Robert, it will be interesting to see just how close to conjunction you'll be able to follow Venus with your kind of scope. I would anticipate that relatively soon sunlight entering the tube ever more directly each day is going to become a problem. Solar conjunction is at the very end of March with Venus passing 1.35-degrees south of the Sun, but I cannot imagine you getting anywhere near that using a Schmidt-Cass, at least not without a device to occult the Sun.

With due care one can spot Venus extremely close to the Sun. Many years ago I watched her pass only about 45' north of the solar limb at mid day, but that was using special precautions.

yes,your talking 1.3deg on marc 2 or so.no, i will not be able to get near that.but i have gotten to about 5 degrees an used a lite red filter and a carboard round shield over scope,but no less than that. i would not try, also it wont be to mid -may to see it again with any appreciable worthwhile seeing.wow thats close 45' like 1 1/2 full mooon away yikes, well thx for that but at least we will have mercury on board at end of this month into mid feb which should be nice.

Great thread Robert. I found Patrick Moore's book online and decided to get out and have a go at locating Venus. I don't have graduated circles on my alt-az mount, so I felt a bit nervous sweeping. So, I think my next astro project is to make some, then I can generate some co-ordinates and be a bit more confident I'm looking in the right patch of blue sky. Now if only those dratted clouds would go away... :-)

vaughn,its not ez with alt-azimuth unless you have at least an 8x50 mm finder focused night before on jupiter or star.an move real slow.cause it will fly right by you as its a pt of light,very noticeable when you get use to it,but good luck.try getting an inexpensive equatorial mount.circles are an almost MUST otherwise you will get tired of acres of blue.a finder 8x50 has a 5+deg field of view,which is not much looking for a white dot without an eq mount but ive done it that way a few times years ago.again good hunting.yes an patrick moores book (planet venus online free) i read 30 years ago.also a great observing book for al is james muirden(english also) how to use an astronomical telescope.great info for all.still got my copy from 1980.

I'd truly consider extending done kind of lightweight dew shade type baffle to avoid the sunlight flaring the inside of your scope which would kill contrast. Acetate from the local art store rolled in a tube , taped and spray painted flat black on the outside would do well. White paint on the outside would probably help reduce heat issues generated from the sun warming the shade.

yes,pete that will definitely help,as you can see at 15 deg you can see the sunlite in side the black dew shield(looking at venus 10.15 am est) already an painting it white might do the trick.thx for that we are never too old to learn an btw ,ive been looking at jupiter as well an some of your analysis is spot on.in the late 70ties i took many drawings of jupiter a great planet to observe an high in sky now too.keep up the nice work an pop in now an then.

looking at venus at 10.15 am est ra 19.20 min dec 22.25 temp 62 deg going to 75 deg.but was 42 deg in am.crytal blue skies an no much change in venus though prominent at -3.9 an easily seen in finder. gonna get a few of those new celestron ultima lx eyepieces ,they say there great.clear skies btw you can see the suns glare on inside of the shield.so be careful went trying to find planets in daytime.

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venus 1-25-13 crisp blue skies at 10.30 est. 3.30 ut time. temp 61degrees ra(hour circle) 19.26 dec(north an south) 22.17 about 15.1 deg west of sun. using older celestron ultima ep's.10mm(200X) an 7.5 (270x) very nice view but venus is now on its farside from from earth so nothing much to report, but it will soon go behind the sun an will not be seen until early may an then it will be far better. mercury will have a nice appearance with greatest elongation from sun on feb 16.but can be seen in daylite feb 1st an onwards till feb 20 or so.

1-26-13 temp 62 deg an beautiful blue skies at the suncoast of florida.300 days avg of sunny skies here in sarasota, 1 hour south of tampa,fla an i think the best weather and skies anywhere and a great place to live an not too expensive. venus now at 15 deg west of the sun. sun ra 20hrs .34 min declination -18.43 (south of the ecliptic) always in winter.venus ra 19.31 min -22.08 beautiful round white disc. 270 x in a celestron ultima(old type) an 200x in a 10mm ultima. gonna pick up a few of those celestron ultima lx new 2"-1 1/4 eyepieces.im hearing great reports on them for the price.have a great day an clear skies.

venus 1-31-13 ra 19.58 -21.13 still receding from earth an almost the same size as mercury.0.960 v-0.0972.not much to see as it slowly drifts closer to sun,but still a nice site in almost any scope about 13 deg west .but in early may an onward venus will be spectacular growing much larger as it emerges from behind the sun into the eastern sky.